Clark opens new sports facility in Pisgah Forest

Wednesday

Jan 16, 2013 at 10:03 PM

By BRITTANY JACKSONTimes-News Staff Writer

After a few years of struggling to find open fields for his travel baseball teams to practice, Brevard Blue Sox Travel Baseball president Brandon Clark made it his goal to find a location once and for all. "We've tried to find a place to play for the past two years. Travel baseball takes a beating from a lot of the local little leagues around the area, making it difficult for them to find places to practice. They just have to hunt and find open fields to practice in," Clark said. "This had been my dream location since I got the idea. I talked with the owner of the building for a long time, and finally I approached him and threw a number at him and he accepted in late October." That dream indoor location, now called Super 5 Sports Complex, is located in Pisgah Forest and caters to baseball and softball players of all ages looking to practice, stay in shape or to hone their skills in their particular sport. "We took ownership of the building on Dec. 15 and had our grand opening on New Year's Day," Clark said. The complex goes above and beyond what any other Western North Carolina sports complex offers as it pertains to baseball and softball, Clark said, and therefore Super 5 Sports isn't competing with any others. Xcel Sportsplex in Fletcher is geared more towards volleyball and basketball, and though Diamond Mine in Candler is also a baseball complex, Clark said he has had several people come through his doors who say that Super 5 offers much more. "There is absolutely everything a player would need here to reach their maximum potential," Clark said. "Everything is here for each person to have their own experience and get the most out of that. It's a rare situation; I've opened a business that isn't money-hungry. As long as we can pay our bills we just want kids to be able to have a place to come and better their game." When Clark says "all ages," he means it. His travel baseball program currently has 7-to-16-year-olds but he has had a 5-year-old's birthday party there as well as college players coming to stay in shape during the holidays. "Within my program of 70 kids, I've got 20 kids from Henderson County and another 10 or 15 from Buncombe," Clark said. "Since we've opened the complex I've had several softball players from Rugby, West Henderson, East Henderson and T.C. Roberson come and work out to get ready for their school season starting. We've also had some college baseball players come in and use the place before they reported back to college after the break." The 6,000-square-foot building encases ample hitting space, five full-size batting cages that are retractable, four training bases where players can hit off a baseball tee, pitching machines, pitching tunnels, baseball equipment sales, video analysis for players, speed and agility training among several other features. Clark and his employees also offer private lessons for hitting, fielding and pitching. "If a person is going to come more than once within 30 days we suggest they get a membership. They run from $30, $50, $75 to $100, and each one of them gives you three times the value of what it costs for things to do in the one month," he said. "There's not another baseball/softball complex that's like this in the area; the nearest one is in South Carolina." Along with kids getting ready for spring sports seasons, several others are preparing for travel ball as well. The Blue Sox program will be hosting tryouts at Super 5 for its travel ball teams on Jan. 26. For more information about the complex, located at 5620 Asheville Highway in Pisgah Forest, visit www.super5sports.com, email super5sportscomplex@gmail.com or call Clark at (828) 553-5756.